A redesign of the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) website last fall has resulted in a significant increase of visitors and page views, according to first-quarter results.
The website redesign (www.pgcps.org) was launched in September 2011. Compared to statistics from September 2010 to December 2010, the revamped site has experienced the following:
- Pages viewed on Employees site (employees.pgcps.org): 107 percent increase
- New visitors: 47 percent increase
- Unique visitors: 42 percent increase
- Number of pages viewed per visitor: 24 percent increase
- Pages viewed: 16 percent increase
- Search engine usage: 16 percent increase
PGCPS officials point to several enhancements in content and design that have improved visitors’ experience in navigating the website:
- Task-driven links: Address what visitors want to do on the website and make links easier to find and understand
- Drop-down menus: Provide direct access to sub-pages and sites and appears on all office pages
- Tabbed sections: Provide direct access to sub-pages and sites; allows targeted links
- Search engine box enlarged and refined: Encourages use of search while providing more reliable results
- Cross-link enhancements: Access information from multiple points – search, portal pages, office websites
The website also includes embedded links to PGCPS Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“We are able to reach more people with more accurate and timely information than ever before,” said Max Pugh, Senior Web Specialist. “Electronic communication changes all the time; here in PGCPS, we’re keeping up the pace.”
“We are constantly exploring ways that we can not only expand our reach to our parents, students, staff and community, but improve our communications tools,” said Dr. William R. Hite Jr., Superintendent of Schools.
A mobile version of the site, student web resources directory along with improved College and Career, Scholarships, Human Resources and Administrative Procedures sites are among the enhancements planned for the next several months.
The school system has implemented other successful technological improvements to better serve parents and the community, such as a translator-by-telephone service for non-English speaking callers and an e-Alert (text and email) notification system. Among the nearly 200 PGCPS campuses, an estimated 44 have used the LanguageLink telephone interpreting service since October for 367 calls in 17 different languages. The e-Alert system offers almost 330 subscription topics. About 75,000 people have signed up since it debuted in November. More than 216,900 bulletins have been issued during that time.
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